After a couple twitter exchanges last night I want to clarify something. I’m pissed about how the UCP have funded Education over the last couple of years. They promised to maintain or increase spending yet they’ve absolutely cut spending despite growing student numbers.

They’ve used dishonest messaging telling the public things like they’ve “increased base funding” but on the other hand eliminated essential grants that school divisions have been receiving for years. They not only broke their campaign promise, but they also lied about it.

Covid has compounded the challenges faced by school jurisdictions for sure. Administrators have been working overtime all summer making and remaking plans, cleaning and maintenance staff have been working more, etc.

Is more funding required to deal with these challenges, yes, but I think the ask of the government needs to be specific and realistic or else risks being lumped in with more of the same calls for funding. Take for instance the calls for smaller class sizes.

Teachers / schools / ATA have been asking for that as long as I can remember. In order to achieve 2m spacing for every child in this province, we’d need to virtually double school space and teachers. It simply isn’t feasible.

Instead, I think the solutions are more at a local level including cohorting options, masks, limiting student contact in common areas etc. Elementary schools may also require more temporary EA support to assist with hand washing.

So in short, I’m concerned that specific covid related measures are being conflated with the larger push for more Education funding which is hindering the debate and creating a reluctance on the part of UCP.

Lastly, I want to thank all of the Admin and school officials who have been working so hard to prepare for this school year. I’m proud of what our division and others have done without more resources. Everyone, except maybe the Education Minister, is doing the best they can